Southern Utah basketball has signed junior college point guard Jason Richardson out of Fullerton College. Richardson will be immediately eligible next season and will join what looks to be a strong guard rotation that should also include Jadon Cohee, Brandon Better and Dre Marin.

Richardson led Fullerton in points (18.6 per game) and assists (5.0) last season, helping the Hornets to a 20-8 record.

“Jason is an attacking guard that can make plays both for himself and his teammates,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “He’s also shown that he can rebound well from the guard position. His experience and maturity will be a great asset for us.”

Richardson is a strong point guard that often bullied smaller defenders during his time at Fullerton. Richardson comes to SUU with two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Richardson scored 20 or more points 11 times last season while shooting 49 percent from the field (32.4 percent from 3-point range). He had a season-high 32 points and scored at least 24 points in Fullerton’s last four games.

Richardson started his career at Cal State Northridge, where he appeared in 30 games as a freshman. He averaged 6.5 ppg and 2.4 apg and started in 12 games that season.

The Thunderbirds have found success with JUCO transfers since Simon took over before the 2016-17 season. Christian Musoko (SLCC) was a regular starter for the T-Birds in his two seasons at SUU, averaging 6.1 points and 4.1 rebounds last year. Better (Moberly Area Community College) led SUU in scoring last season with 12.8 points per game. Better was named to the 2018 Big Sky All-Tournament team after averaging 22.5 points in the Thunderbirds two tournament wins.

T-Bird football adds defensive lineman

SUU graduated all of its starting defensive linemen last year, so it’s no surprise the T-Birds are still looking for some depth in the trenches. On Monday, SUU signed JUCO defensive tackle Oscar Burgueno from Fullerton College.

As a freshman, Burgueno had 21 tackles, 12 tackles-for-loss, and four sacks during Fullerton’s 13-0 season last year. He comes to SUU with three years of eligibility remaining.